Bread Pudding

This was our first attempt at bread pudding and it turned out really well. The only I might change is increasing the bread crumbs a little, but all in all it was really delicious.

Prep. Time: 20 mins.
Baking Time: 45 mins.
Servings: 6


Ingredients:

4 cups Bread Crumbs (preferably from day old French Bread)
2 Tbsp Butter (melted)
4 Eggs
2 cups Milk
3/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Break bread into small pieces.

Mix eggs, milk, sugars, cinammon, butter and vanilla in a large bowl.

Soak bread for five minutes in the milk-egg mixture.

Grease an 8" x 8" pan and add the bread crumbs.

Drizzle the remaining liquid over the bread crumbs.

Bake for 45 mins.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

The name says it all...

Prep. Time: 30 mins.
Baking Time: 2 hrs.
(Also allow approximately 3 hours to cool)


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
1/3 Cup Butter Melted
24 oz. Cream Cheese
14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Chocolate Chips
4-6 Tbsp Caramel
1 tsp Flour


Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 °F.

Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa and butter in a medium sized bowl.

Press the graham cracker mixture onto the sides and bottom of a 9 in. pie or cake dish and set aside.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.

Add the condensed milk and beat again.

Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until smooth.

Toss 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips in the flour and add into the cheese mixture.

Pour the cheese mixture into the prepared crust.

Sprinkle the remaining 2/3 cup of chocolate chips on the top of the cake mixture.

Bake at 300 °F for 1 hr.

Turn off the oven and leave the cake in for 1 hr. longer.

Remove from the oven and drizzle top with melted caramel.

Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled before serving.

Cioppino

Cioppino is a fish stew derived from various Italian fish soups. There are many different variations of this dish, but the version below is one of my favorites seafood recipes.

Prep. Time: 15 mins.
Cooking Time: 60 mins.
Serves: 6-8


Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Large Fennel Bulb thinly sliced
1 Onion chopped
3 Large Shallots chopped
3 Garlic Cloves
3/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
2 oz. Tomato Paste
28 oz. Diced Tomatoes
1 1/2 cups Dry White Wine
4 cups Fish Stock
1 Bay Leaf
1 Tbsp Basil
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Oregano
1 lb. Clams
1 lb. Mussels
1 lb. Shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lb. Cod cut into bite size pieces
1/2 lb. Lump Crab Meat


Directions:

Saute the onions, shallots, fennel, garlic and red pepper flakes in the olive oil for 5-10 mins. until the onions become translucent.

Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, fish stock, bay leaf, basil, thyme and oregano and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer about 30 mins.

Add the clams and mussels and  cook for 5 mins.

Add the shrimp, cod and crab and cook for 5-10 mins. longer until the shrimp turn pink.

Discard any clams or mussels that don't open and serve.

Thai Drunken Noodles

This is a spicy Thai dish that's served over Banh Pho or Rice Noodles. You can mix and match a wide variety of vegetables, as well as adding in chicken or shrimp if you're a meat eater. The combination of basil, jalapeno and soy sauce gives it a delicious flavor. Usually I triple the recipe below so the sauce lasts a few days.

Prep. Time: 15 mins.
Cooking Time: 15 mins.
Serves: 2-3
Wine Recommendation: Sauvignon Blanc

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 lb Banh Pho
3 Ears Baby Corn cut lengthwise, then in half
1 Package Fresh Basil
1/2 lb Shrimp or Chicken (optional)
1/2 tsp White Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic minced
1/3-1/2 of a Large Jalapeno Pepper Sliced
2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 1/2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce (or additional soy sauce if fish sauce is unavailable)
2 tsp Sugar
4 Tbsp Water
1/4 tsp Vinegar
6 Shitake Mushrooms cut into thick slices.
1 Medium Carrot cut Julienne.


Directions:

(Note: If cooking with chicken, you can serve on the side, or saute separately in vegetable oil and soy sauce.)

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok.

Add the garlic and jalapeno slices and saute on medium heat until the garlic is browned.

Add the shrimp, carrots, mushrooms, baby corn, white pepper and water and cook about 10 mins. until the mushrooms become soft and the shrimp starts to turn pink.

Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar and cook for 2-3 minutes longer.

Add the basil and vinegar and cook until basil wilts.

Serve over banh pho.

Greek Spinach Soup with Orzo

This recipe is a variation on traditional avgolemono, or Greek egg lemon soup. It's fairly simple, the only tricky part is to temper the eggs so they don't curdle when added to the broth. Chicken may be cut up and added in directly to the soup, or sauteed and added in separately.

Prep. Time: 10 mins.
Cooking Time: 35 mins.
Serves: 3-4


Ingredients:

Soup
1 Onion Chopped
2 Garlic Cloves Minced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
16 oz. Baby Spinach
1 Tbsp fresh Dill minced
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
4 cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
2 Eggs
1/4-1/3 cup Lemon Juice
1 cup Orzo
1 Bunch Italian Parsley Chopped

Chicken
2 Large Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1 Lemon


Directions:

Soup
In a large pot, saute the onions and garlic for 5-10 mins. in the olive oil on med. heat until the onions become translucent.

Add the baby spinach and cook until the spinach releases its water and is wilted.

Add the stock, parsley, dill, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 mins.

While the soup is simmering, whisk the eggs and lemon juice in a separate bowl.

Remove approximately 1 cup of the hot broth from the soup and gradually whisk it into the egg-lemon mixture.

Remove heat from the soup.

While rapidly stirring the soup, slowly pour in the egg-lemon mixture.

Gradually reheat the soup while stirring, making sure that it doesn't boil, and cook for 5 mins. further.

Soup may be served hot over the cooked orzo.

Chicken
Cut the raw chicken into bite size pieces.

Saute the chicken in the oil, slat, pepper and juice from one lemon.

Cooked chicken pieces can be added in to soup servings individually. If making "non-vegetarian" soup, the chicken pieces can be added in directly with the broth.